Conventional thermostats are commonly used to control furnaces and/or air conditioners. One conventional thermostat sold by Home Depot of Atlanta, Ga. as the RiteTemp® 6020Z controls the furnace/air-conditioner (HVAC) using a low power radio transmitter. In addition, this thermostat can be used in a system to receive information from and provide signals to other devices such as alarm systems, outside lighting, etc. A similar system having additional features and capabilities is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/335,155 filed on 19 Jan. 2006, entitled MULTIPLE THERMOSTAT INSTALLATION; this application was published on 7 Sep. 2006 as publication number US-2006-0196953-A1, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.
During peak power demands a power company needs to have users on the power grid cut back on power consumption to avoid blackouts. One known way to do this is to send a signal to a specially designed power meter that a power-save state exists. The power meter receives the power-save signal and instructs the air-conditioner to increase the target temperature without delay by, for example, 4° F., the power-save state. In exchange for permitting the power company to have such temporary control, the user will typically receive power at a reduced rate structure.